Only 900 new jobs in Aug., but yearly growth strong

Employers in San Diego County added only 900 jobs to their payrolls last month, and 8,900 people dropped out of the labor force. That brought the region’s jobless down from 9.3 percent in July to 9.0 percent last month, the state

announced Friday.

“San Diego’s jobs numbers on the surface showed some signs of improvement in August, but the actual outcome was not as encouraging,” said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University. “The unemployment rate fell for the wrong reasons.”

In August 2011, for example, the county added 3,400 jobs. But consider at that time the unemployment rate was 10.3 percent.

Still, economists say the year-over-year job growth is strong. From August 2011 to August 2012, county employers have added 30,300 jobs to their payrolls. That’s put a real ding in the unemployment rate, now in single digits.

Overall the growth is a little slower than it was from July to July, which saw payrolls rise by 35,100. But August’s year-over-year growth is still much stronger than it was in May, for instance, when employers only netted 9,200 jobs in the preceding 12 months. Economists point out this August data is just one dip in the year-over-year number, and we will have to wait to see if it’s just a blip.

“There has been some drop off, however, that still doesn’t set enough evidence for a trend,” said Esmael Adibi, director of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research at Chapman University. “If next month it goes down to 20,000 or 25,000 then definitely something is going on.”

Whatever the numbers say, it doesn’t mean finding a job is getting easier.

It also doesn’t necessarily mean the jobs available provide enough income to pay the bills. While payrolls were up 30,300, the labor force grew by about 14,500 over the year, canceling out some of that 2.5 percent job growth.

“At this point, I don’t really care about a career. I’ve had a career, I just need a job,” said Debra Combs, 58, of Spring Valley, a former insurance adjuster who now works three hours a week at $9 an hour doing inventory (she used to earn $35 an hour). “I just want to be able to pay my bills and have a car.”

If the county’s employment growth does continue to slow — like the nation’s job growth — economists are likely to attribute much of it to economic uncertainty.

The nation is fast approaching the year end expiration of the Bush tax cuts — known as the fiscal cliff. Also, it won’t be known until November who will be president in 2013. Add to that the struggling economies abroad and some companies may hold back hiring for a time.

“I think businesses are still concerned over what’s happening with the euro, what’s happening with Greece, what’s happening with Spain, what’s happening with China, what’s happening with Syria,” said Phil Blair, CEO of Manpower San Diego. “I think companies have a pent up demand. They’re just nervous.”

In August, San Diego County’s retail industry added 1,300 jobs, while accommodation and food services grew by 1,400 workers. The biggest loss was in professional and business services, which declined by 3,100 jobs.

Over the year, the construction field has added 1,100 jobs, for a total workforce of 58,400. However, that’s still well below a pre-recession 2007 total of 77,980, leaving many workers displaced.

“Not all of them are going to get that old job back, so their option is to look at alternatives,” Adibi said. “Some alternatives require skills, like professional and business services ... A construction worker cannot become an accountant over night.”

Manufacturing in the county is down 700 jobs from the August 2011.

The region’s August job numbers mirror the national trend, in which significantly more people dropped out of the labor force than actually got jobs.

The national jobless rate dropped from 8.3 percent to 8.1 percent from July to August, with employers adding 96,000 people to their payrolls. Still,

(meaning they got discouraged and stopped looking, or went back to school).

California’s unemployment rate dipped slightly in August to 10.6 percent, down from 10.7 percent the previous month, the state reported Friday.

The numbers are an improvement over California’s 11.9 percent unemployment rate a year ago and show the state’s economy is continuing its slow recovery.

California has added 298,700 jobs since this time last year. The state added more than 12,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in August.

The number of people unemployed in California fell by 27,000 in August to a little more than 1.9 million. But that was in part due to people giving up on active job searches. The total labor force shrunk by about 66,000 people.